When I bought my first house in 2010, at age 24, it was the Great Recession, and the housing market—the entire world, really—was off-kilter. A little like it is now. I was newly married, a recent ...

Here’s what we know: buying your first home can feel intimidating, especially when the headlines scream, “Mortgage rates are up!” one day and “Mortgage rates are down!” the next. The rollercoaster of ...